OT1OT  Mi^TOOT 

OF    THE 

RISE,  PROGRESS,  AND  TERMINATION 

OF    THE 

PROCEEDINGS 

OF    THE 

V 

RELATIVE    TO    THE    LATE 

CUMBERLAND  PRESBYTERY: 


IN  WHICH  IS  BROUGHT    TO    VIEW    A    BRIEF   ACCOUNT   OF    THE  ORIGIN  ANJ> 
PRESENT  STANDING  OF  THE  PEOPLE  USUALLY  DENOMINATED 

CUMBERLAND  PRESBYTERIANS; 

AS    TAKEN 

FROM  OFFICIAL  DOCUMENTS  AND  FACTS  IN  POSSES- 
SION  OF  SYNOD. 


published  by  order  of  Synod  at  their  sessions  held  in  Harrodshurgh, 
Oct.  1822. 


LEXINGTON,  KY. 

PRINTED    BY    THOMAS    T.   SKILLljUN. 

1823. 


A  BRIEF  HISTORY,  &c. 

The  Synod  of  Kentucky,  having  been  repeatedly  advised 
\>f  the  necessity,  expediency,  and  utility  of  laying  before  the 
public  at  large,  but  more  especially  the  churches  under  their 
care,  a  plain  and  correct  account  of  their  proceedings  rela- 
tive to  the  late  Cumberland  Presbytery,  have,*  in  compliance 
with  those  solicitations  and  advices,  deemed  it  proper  to  pre- 
sent the  following  statement  of  facts,  substantiated  by  official 
documents,  and  references  to  the  records  of  the  several  judi- 
catories relative  to  the  origin,  progress,  and  termination  of 
their  proceedings  in  the  very  unpleasant  case  of  that  Pres- 
bytery. This  they  have  undertaken  under  a  full  conviction 
that  information  on  this  subject  is  imperiously  required,  par- 
ticularly for  the  benefit  of  those  who  emigrate  from  distant 
sections  of  our  Church,  and  fall  within  the  range  of  those 
people  who  style  themselves  "Cumberland  Presbyterians;" — 
a  people  who  have  no  ecclesiastical  connection  with  us  what- 
ever; and  moreover,  are  not  recognized  by  us  as  being  in 
correct  Presbyterial  staniing. 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  Synod  to  give  a  fair  and  impar- 
tial statement  of  facts  and  circumstances  as  they  actually 
transpired,  that  the  candid  and  the  judicious  may  be  enabled 
to  judge,  whether,  as  sound  and  consistent  Presbyterians,  we 
were  not  justifiable  in  endeavouring  to  arrest  the  progress  of 
a  branch  of  our  connection  which  had  greatly  erred  from 
presbyterial  usage, and  order;  and  which  appeared  to  us  to 
threaten  a  total  overthrow  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
west;  whose  interests  and  prosperity  had,  until  then,  gradu- 
ally increased,  and  promised  an  almost  unrivalled  prospec- 
tive strength  and  permanency. 

The  first  Presbytery  organized  in  Kentucky  was  at  Dan- 
ville, on  the  17th  day  of  October,   1786.     It  was   compo- 


E<3 

seel  of  five  members,  and  called   "Transylvania  Presbytery;" 
belonging  to  the  Synod   of  New-York  and  Philadelphia,  hav- 
ing been  b\  that  Synod,  at  their  sessions   in  May  preceding, 
divided  off  from  the   Presbytery  of  Abington.     With  ihe  in- 
crease and  population  of  the  country  it  gr^w  in  numbers,  un- 
til  about   the   year   1793,   when   the   Presbyteries  of  "West 
Lexington''  and  "Washington,"  were   erected  out  of  its  East- 
ern and  North  Western  sections,  making  the  Kentucky  river 
its  eastern   boundary.     The   Synod   of  Kentucky  was  c< 
luted  in  the  year  1802, — made  up  of  the  Presbyteries  before 
mentioned,  and   the   Transylvania   Presbytery.     At   the  first 
meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,   they  divided   the  Tran- 
sylvania Presbytery  again,  and  formed  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
bytery on   the  West,  including  the  Cumberland  settlements. 
This  Presbytery  held  its  first  meeting  in  April,  1803.     The 
disoiders  and  irregularities,  which  required  at  length  the  in- 
terference of  Synod,  originated   in   Transylvania   Presbytery 
previous  to  their  last  division,  at   their  fall   sessions  in  1801, 
held  at  "Muddy  River  Church."    At  this  meeting,  after  much 
altercation,  four  men,   viz:  Messrs.  Anderson,  Ewing,  King, 
and  M'Clain,  who  made  no   pretensions   to  the  literary  quali- 
fications   required    by    our    Form    of  Government,    "offered 
themselves  to  the  Presbytery  for  the  service  of  the  Church," 
and  were  "appointed  to  the   business  of  exhortation  and  cat- 
echizing.    They  were  al^o  directed  "(o   prepare  discourses" 
on  different  subjects  "to  be  read  at  the  next  spring  session  of 
Presbytery."  (Records,   p.   o5>)     Their  next   stated  meeting 
was   held  at   "Beaver   Creek   Church,"  in    Barren   County, 
April  13,  1802.     It  was  then  and   there  "resolved,  that  Alex- 
ander Anderson,  Finis  Ewing,  and   Samuel,  King,  be  permit- 
ted to  come  forward   and   read  their  pieces  assigned  them  at 
the  last  stated  sessions."  (p.  49.)    It  was  father  "ordered  that 
Mr.  Anderson   prepare   a  sermon  as  a  specimen  of  trial  on 
Luke   xiii.    24."  (p.   55.)     So  that  Mr.   Anderson    appears, 
from  the  recoruV,  to  be  the  only  one  of  these  three  candidates,  at 
that  titr,e,  approver7,  and  Continued  by  the  Presbytery.      B 


H^>> 


specting  the  fate  of  the  other  twc,  the  Teccrd  is  silent,  and  it 
is  presumed  they  were  discontinued. 

The  Presbytery  being  under  the  controul  of  the  lower 
members  almost  exclusively,  and  which  had  been  the  <ase 
for  twelve  months,  hel^their  next  stated  meeting  in  October  T*+ * 

following  at  "Spring^M^Church,"  still  further  westward,  and  9  i^^€J^J 
consequently  at  a  greater  distance  from  those  members  who 
were  known  to  be  opposed  to  the  contemplated  procedure; 
and  therefore  it  was  carried  g t i  1 1  farther  off, — the  object  of 
which  even  charity,  which  thinketh  no  e\il,  can  scarcely 
avoid  discerning.  At  this  meeting  thqgg^^m^resent,  ac- 
cording to  the  enrolment,  eight  ministers  and  fourteen  ruling 
elders; — all  belonging  to  that  section  of  the  Presbytery. 
Eight  ministers  more,  and  all  residing  in  the  eastern  section 
of  the  Presbytery,  were  noted  as  absent.  This  circumstance 
will  readily  account  for  that  triumphant  assertion  in  the  Gth 
page  of  the  "Reply  to  a  Pastoral  Letter  of  West  Tennessee," 
which  states,  that  "the  next  Transylvania  Presbytery  [not  the 
Cumberland]  took  them  up,  and  by  a  large  majority  licensed 
Anderson,  Ewing,  and  King,  to  preach  the  everlasting  gos- 
pel.*'  The  majority,  indeed,  was  large,  being  17  to  5; — three 
ministers  and  two  elders,  having  strenuously  opposed  the  pro- 
ceedings without  success,  entered  the  following  dissent: — 

"We,  whose  names  are  under  written,  dissent  from  the 
judgment  of  the  Presbytery  in  licensing  Messrs.  Ewing  and 
King,  because,  though  they  were  rejected  by  the  last  session 
of  Presbytery,  as  persons  unfit  to  be  continued  as  candidates, 
and  were  now  received  by  petitions  from  the  people,  which 
we  think  ought  not  to  have  been  received,  as  they  had  a  ten- 
dency to  influence  the  minds  of  the  members  who  were  bound 
by  solemn  vows  to  judge  impartially  of  their  qualifications, 
and  because  their  trials  on  that  occasion  consisted  only  in  one 
short  sermon,  and  an  examination  on  experimental  religion  and 
divinity,  being  destitute  of  classical  learning,  and  they  discov- 
ered no  such  extraordinary  talents  as  to  justify  such  measure.'' 

The  Presbytery,  in   assigning  reasons  for  their  departure 


•* 


from  common  usage  in  this  matter,  state,  on  their  record,  that 
"several  petitions  having  came  forward  from  many  of  our  va- 
cancies earnestly  and  importunately  praying  Presbytery  to  li- 
cense them  to  preach  the  gospel," "and  after  mature  de- 


•^r-yw^^r 


•   #  liberation,  considering  this  matter  c-^kpming  under  the  view 

V>^  *<**  <*    of  that  extraordinary  case  exceptedT^pe  book  of  discipline,'* 
&c.  licensed  them  to  preach  the  gospel,  (p.  p.  59,  60.)     This 
licensure  took  place  on  the  8th  day  of  October,   1802,  in  the 
same   month,  only  six   clays  prior  to   the  first   meeting  of  the 
yy  Synod   of  Kentucky,   and   nearly   200   miles   from   the  place 

^f  _J  -where  the  ]taflfa|M*'  met.  So  that  at  the  first  sessions  of 
the  Synod,  these  proceedings  could  not  be  reviewed;  nor  in- 
deed could  the  Synod  then  be  apprized  of  them,  by  reason 
of  the  shortness  of  the  time  and  the  great  distance  that  inter- 
vened. This  accounts  also  for  the  general  absence  of  the 
eight  members  of  the  Presbytery  before  mentioned, — they 
having  determined  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  which 
was  essential  in  order  to  form  a  constitutional  quorum.  Ap- 
prehending no  danger,  therefore,  the  Synod  proceeded  to  the 
formation  of  a  new  Presbytery,  by  the  name  of  "Cumberland 
Presbytery;"  which,  pursuant  to  the  appointment  of  Synod, 
met  at  the  "Ridge  meeting-house,  the  5th  of  April  1803." 
A  few  days  before  this  division  took  place  by  the  act  of  the 
Synod,  the  Transylvania  Presbytery,  having  been,  as  before 
observed,  for  some  time  almost  entirely  under  the  controul 
of  the  lower  members  with  a  ruling  elder  from  every 
small  vacancy,  and  thus  constituting  ua  large  majority,"  had 
adjourned  to  meet  in  the  spring  at  "Mount  Pisgah,"  on  Red 
River.  Just  before  that  adjournment,  near  the  close  of  their 
proceedings,  it  is  stated  that  "Mr.  James  Hawe,  a  regular 
member  of  the  Republican  Methodist  Church,  made  applica- 
tion to  connect  himself  with  the  Presbytery,  and  was  cordial- 
ly received."*  This  same  James  Hawe  had  been  well  known 
to  many  in  Kentucky  as  a  violent  opposer  of  Presbyterians, 
and  a  great  declaimer,  both  from  the  Pulpit  and  the  Press, 
agati  he   ignorantlv  or  disingenuously  charged  upon 


them  as  Calvinism,  dressed  up  in  a  very  hideous  and  ludicrous 
manner,  the  better  to  suit  his  purpose  in  stigmatizing  and  de- 
preciating the  influence  of  his  opponents.  This  man  was 
nevertheless  "cordially  received"  and  admitted  to  a  seat  in  a 
Presbyterian  Judicature,  without  any  recantation, — any  ex- 
amination on  doctrine, — and  without  being  required  to  adopt 
the  standards  of  our  Church.  He  was  accordingly  enrolled 
with  the  members  of  the  new  Presbytery  at  their  first  meet- 
ing, and  was  their  moderator  when  called  before  the  Com- 
mission of  Synod. 

The  Cumberland  Presbytery  now  went  with  great  rapidity 
in  their  own  way: — many  offered  themselves,  and  were  (to 
use  the  words  of  the  Presbytery)  "licensed  as  regular  extort- 
ers," and  "authorized  to  make  public  appointments  in  any 
congregation  or  settlement  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presby- 
tery." Messrs.  Crawford  and  Dooly  were  "licensed  to  ex- 
hort in  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery,  or  wherever  God  in  his 
providence  may  call  them."  The  churches  under  the  care 
of  the  Presbytery  were  ordered  "to  contribute  to  the  extort- 
ers" for  their  pecuniary  support.  "Each  licentiate  to  exhort" 
was  ordered  "to  exercise  himself  in  composition  on  any  sub- 
ject he  might  choose,  and  show  as  many  pieces  of  such  com- 
position to  the  nearest  minister  as  he  could  with  convenience." 
Some  were  received  as  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry 
on  the  delivery  of  a  discourse  as  the  first  evidence  or  spe- 
cimen of  their  abilities.  Those  who  were  licensed  to  preach, 
and  those  who  were  ordained,  were  required,  at  their  licen- 
sure and  ordination,  to  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith,  so  far 
only,  as  they  believed  it  to  agree  with  the  word  of  God ;  which, 
according  to  Presbyterian  law  and  usage,  was  irregular  and 
unconstitutional*  This  opened  a  door  to  any  one  who  might 
choose  to  enter,  no  matter  what  his  creed  might  be.  This 
covering,  of  such  loose  and  wide  dimensions,  suited  very  well 
snch  men  as  James  Hawe  and  Reuben  Dooly,  and  others, 
who  could  turn  round  and  round  in'it,  without  interrupting 
its  shape,  or  disturbing  their  own  conscience. 


[8] 

In  this  way  matters  went  on,  until  the  number  of  these 
men,  including  exhorters,  licentiates,  and  a  few  who  v  ere 
thus  iinconstitulioiK.lhf  ordained,  amounted  to  nearly  thirty. 
Some  were  now  entitled  to  a  seat  in  Synod,  and  began  to  ap- 
pear there.  A  number  uof  young  societies,"  as  they  slate, 
had  been  organized,  and  the  most  of  them  represented  by 
their  elders,  who,  from  their  numbers,  were  about  to  create 
an  overwhelming  majority  in  the  Synod.  They  also  estab- 
lished what  they  called  "Circuits,"  which  were  principally 
supplied  by  the  licentiates.  The  meetings  of  the  Presbyte- 
ry were  very  frequent  for  licensures  and  ordinations; — and 
had  not  their  progress  been  impeded  in  some  way  or  other, 
there  is  little  doubt  but  that  Presbytery,  by  its  rapid 
movements,  in  a  very  short  time,  would  have  gained  such  an 
ascendency  in  the  Synod,  as  to  have  completely  swayed  that 
body  in  any  measure  which  they  might  wish  to  carry.  This 
will  not  be  considered  either  an  unjustifiable  or  extravagant 
calculation  by  any  one  acquainted  with  their  rapid  march  af- 
terwards, or  their  present  standing,  as  it  respects  the  number 
of  their  ministers  and  elders.  But  in  that  Presbytery  there 
were  a  few,  who,  in  whatever  else  they  may  have  been  con- 
sidered blameable,  were  evidently  justifiable  in  their  bold 
and  continued  opposition  to  those  measures  which  they  view- 
ed as  unwarantable  and  dangerous  encroachments,  calculated 
to  overthrow  the  government  and  discipline  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  altogether. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Synod,  (in  September,  1803,  at 
Lexington,)  there  was  not  a  member  from  the  Cumberland 
Presbytery  present;  nor  were  their  records  sent  up  for  review. 
It  was  not,  therefore,  until  October.  1804,  that  this  business 
was  taken  up  by  the  Synod,  which  they  then  found  impracti- 
cable to  investigate;  and  consequently  did  nothing  more  than 
order  citations  to  be  given  to  all  parties  to  appear  at  the 
next  stated  meeting.  The  minority  and  the  majority  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbytery,  as  they  were  afterwards  called  by 
way  of  discrimination,  appeared  to  be,  and  actually  were. 


considered    two  parties  before  the  Synod, — as  accusers  and 
accused.    The"  Synod  met  in  October*  1805.  at  Dan  tile    O  ly 

two  members  from  Cumberland   Prelbytery    were   nc  led   as 
pres?nt,  who  brought  with  them  their  IVc.-bvterial  Records, — * 
which  were  reviewed  and  found  very  defective, — the  history 
obscure  and  discordant, — and   the  mode  of  transacting  busi- 
ness  frequently   violating  the  rules  of  our  discipline.     The 
remonstrance  of  the  minority,  setting  forth  their  grievances, 
and   their  dissent,  had  been  before  the  Synod   at    their    ast 
meeting.     Synodical  interference  was  now  loudly  called  for, 
and  imperiously  required.     The  time  had  arrived  whe;   duty 
and  prevailing  irregularities  called  on  the  Synod  to  do  some" 
thing  speedily.     But  they  found  not  the  parties  yet  fairly  be- 
fore them.     They  had  not  the  evidence  of  the  disqualifica- 
tion of  the  young  men,  so  loudly  complained  of,  sufficiently 
clear,  to  act  upon: — nor  was   there  any  official  record,  that 
they  had  been  licensed    and  ordained  in  the  irregular  arid  un- 
constitutional manner  charged  against  the  majority,  they  hav- 
ing omitted  to  record  that  fact,  i.  e.  the  partial  and  reserved 
adoption  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  in   their  proceedings. 
The  Synod  was  in  a  state  of  great  perplexity  and  anxiety. 
They  were  at  a  loss  to  know  what  was  the  most  eligible  course 
to  adopt.     The  evil  had  greatly  extended,  and  was  still  pro- 
gressing.    The  remedy  had  already  been  too  long  delayed. 
To  lay  the  matter  over  another  year,  was  impolitic  and  dan- 
gerous.    To  adjourn  their  annual  meeting  to  the  lower  coun- 
try was  objectionable  in  two  points  of  view; — first,  that  the 
time  would  be  too  long,  as  Synodical  interference  was  imme- 
diately required; — the  second,   was  the  great  liability  to  fail- 
ure in  obtaining  a  constitutional  quorum; — the  upper  Presby- 
tery being  mostly  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  and   the  lower  con- 
sidered as  standing  at  the  bar  of  the  Synod : — and  it  may  be 
added  further, — the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  at  that  tin  e, 
not  affording  the  facility  of  obtaining  a  quorum  that  it  did 
some  time  after,  in  consequence  of  its  amendment  in    hat  re- 
spect.    The  object  before  the  Synod  was  to  suppress   the 


[  io  j 

growing  irregularities  in  the  west,  and  yet  save  one  of  her 
Presbyteries  from  disruption  and  final  ruin.  Id  this  state  of 
anxiety,  after  ample  discussion  and  mature  deliberation,  the 
plan  of  a  Commission  of  Synod  was  suggested  and  adopted. 
The  appointment  of  this  Commission  has  been,  through  ignor- 
ance, or  some  other  cause,  frequently  reprobated  as  tyranni- 
cal, and  unprecedented  in  the  annals  of  Presbyterianism;  and 
the  minds  of  many  have  been  thus  improperly  prejudiced 
against  both  it  and  the  Synod.  The  General  Assembly  hav- 
ing reviewed  and  approved  of  the  measure,  the  false  and  un- 
generous insinuation  should  have  ceased.  The  following  ex- 
tract from  Stewart's  Collections  of  the  acts  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  ought  to  put  the  subject  to  rest: — "What  matters 
General  Assemblies  cannot  undertake  themselves,  they  do  re- 
fer to  their  Commissions;  in  propriety  of  speech  they  do  im- 
port the  same  thing  with  committees;  yet,  cle  praxi,  a  com- 
mittee is  appointed  only  to  prepare  matters,  whereas  a  com- 
mission determines  in  matters  committed  to  them,  and  from 
whose  sentence  therein  lieth  no  appeal  to  the  ensuing  Gener- 
al Assembly^  though  a  complaint  may  be  tabled  before  the 
next  General  Assembly  against  the  Commission  on  account  of 
their  proceed ings.-  Slezcart's  Collections,  Book  I.  Title  15. 
See  also  Buck's  Dictionary,  Art.  Seceders. 

Here  let  it  be  remarked,  that  not  merely  a  Commission 
was  appointed  to  determine  a  certain  case  in  peculiar  cir" 
cumstances,  but  standing  Commissions  appointed  to  determine 
all  unfinished  business.  The  propriety  of  this  we  shall  not 
defend,  but  the  fact  shows  the  ignorance,  or  something  worse., 
of  those  who  have  assumed  the  name  of  Presbyterians,  ani 
declare  that  this  Synod  acted  without  a  precedent  in  appoint- 
ing the  foresaid  Commission.  To  say  that  it  was  an  Assem- 
bly, and  not  a  Synod,  that  afforded  the  precedent  in  appoint- 
ing these  Commissions,  and  therefore  not  a  rule  for  us,  wilH 
avail  nothing;  for  the  Assembly  being  the  highest  court,  and 
including  Synod,  must  be  the  proper  court  for  affording  pre- 
cedents to  the  subordinate  judicatories. 


[  h  3 

But  now  a  difficulty  yet  remained  respecting  the  pradibik' 
-y  of  the  measure; — can  there  be  found  members  enough 
who  will  pledge  themselves  to  attend,  so  that  a  disappoint- 
ment may  not  be  sustained?  Such  a  pledge  was  immediate- 
ly obtained: — the  way  appeared  fairly  to  be  open: — the  Com- 
mission was  made  up,  and  here  follows  its  appointment: — 

uO  )  motion,  Resolved,  that  the  business  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbytery  be  again  taken  up.  After  considerable  delibera- 
tion, it  was  resolved,  that  the  Rev.  John  Lyle,  John  P.  Camp- 
bell, Archibald  Cameron,  Joseph  P.  Howe,  Samuel  Rannalls, 
Robert  Stuart,  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  Robert  Wilson,  Thomas 
Cleland,  and  Isnac  Tull,  together  with  Messrs.  William 
M'Dowell,  Robert  Brank,  James  Allen,  James  Henderson, 
Richard  Gaines,  and  Andrew  Wallace,  ruling  elders,  or  any 
seven  ministers  of  them,  with  as  many  elders  as  may  be  pres- 
ent, be  a  Commission,  vested  with  full  Synodical  powers,  to 
confer  with  the  members  of  Cumberland  Presbytery,  and  ad- 
judicate on  their  Presbyterial  proceedings  which  appear  upon 
the  minutes  of  said  Prebytery,  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  and 
taken  notice  of  by  the  Committee  appointed  by  Synod  to  ex- 
amine said  minutes — that  the  said  Commission  meet  on  the 
first  Tuesday  in  December  next,  at  Gasper  meeting-house,  Lo- 
gan County,  in  the  bounds  of  said  Presbytery,  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid.  That  notice  be  given  to  the  members  of  said 
Presbytery,  by  the  stated  Clerk  of  Synod,  to  attend  on  the 
day  and  at  the  place  aforesaid, — so  that  a  full,  fair,  and 
friendly  investigation  may  take  place.  That  the  said  Com- 
mission take  into  consideration,  and  decide  upon  a  letter  from 
the  Rev.  T.  B.  Craighead  and  others,*'  Szc. 

This  Commission  met  the  3d  of  December,  1305,  about 
six  weeks  after  its  appointment;  at  the  time  and  place  ap- 
pointed. The  members  were  all  present  except  Messrs. 
Campbell,  Henderson,  and  R.  Wilson.  Prior  to  the  meeting, 
the  most  ungenerous  and  unfavourable  representations  res- 
pecting the  motives  and  designs  of  the  Synod  were  extensive- 
ly spread  in  the  region   round   about  where  the  Com*Hssi$B 


[  12] 

was  to  meet: — consequently,  the  most  unfavourable  impres- 
sions were  made  on  the  minds  of  the  people  there.  Preju- 
dice, in  her  most  scowling  aspect,  had  fled  like  lightning  be- 
fore the  Commission,  and  taken  her  seat  in  the  bosoms  of  all 
elates.  The  Commission  was  stigmatized  with  the  unhal- 
lowed name  of  an  "Inquisition,"  sent  down  by  the  Synod  to 
destroy  the  revival  of  religion,  and  to  cut  off  all  the  young 
pr  -H  hers,  because  they  had  hot  learned  Latin  and  Greek. 
Mr.  Rankin,  the  minister  of  the  place,  who  afterwards  be- 
came a  Shaker,  delivered  an  inflammatory  address  to  his  peo- 
ple, on  the  evening  preceding  the  communion,  and  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Commission,  accompanied  with  threats,  or  lan- 
guage indicative  of  personal  violence  and  opposition.  The 
most  of  the  members  of  the  Commission  were  nick-named,  and 
given  some  appellation  intended  either  to  affix  a  stigma,  or 
confer  an  encomium,  as  the  fruitful  and  ingenuous  inventors 
thought  the  individuals  were  favourable  or  unfavourable  to 
their  cause.  Under  such  very  unpleasant  and  forbidding  cir- 
cumstances, did  the  Commission  meet  and  transact  their  busi- 
ness. 

The  second  day  of  their  sessions  they  "took  under  conside- 
ration the  case  of  Mr.  James  Ha  we,  as  stated  in  the  report 
of  the  committee*'  (of  the  Synod)  "and  were  unanimously  of 
opinion  that  the  Presbytery  had  acted  illegally  in  receiving 
him,  as  a  regular  minister  of  the  Methodist  Republican 
Church,  without  examining  him  upon  divinity,  or  requiring 
him  to  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church."  (Min.  Com.  p.  4.)  They  next  invited,  and  entered 
into  a  friendly  conference  with  the  Presbytery,  and  thereby, 
together  with  their  records,  received  all  the  evidence  neces- 
sary to  the  establishment  of  the  "charge  of  licensing  and  or- 
daining men  to  preach  the  gospel  contrary  to  the  rules  and 
discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."  Being  fully  satis- 
fied on  this  point,  "t  e  Commission  then  requested,  in  a 
friendly  manner,  the  majority  of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery 
to  give  the  reasons,  win,  in  licensing  and  ordaining  persons 


[   13  J 

to  preach  the  g  spel,  hev  required  them  to  adopt  the  Con 
fe>  on  o  Faith  o  far  only,  as  they  in  reason  think  it  coi  -  es- 
ponds  w  t  t  e  scriptures?"  The  answer  was,  "that  the  C  on- 
fession  of  Faith  was  human  composition  and  fallible,  and  that 
they  cou'd  not  in  conscience  feel  themselves  bound  any  furth- 
er than  i hey  believe  it  corresponds  with  Scripture."  Where- 
upon the  Commission  adopted  the  following  preamble  and 
resolution: — " Whereas  it  appears  to  the  Commission  of  Syn- 
od, from  the  Records  of  Cumberland  Presb)tery,  from  the  dis- 
sent of  the  minority  of  said  Presbytery,  and  from  the  open 
confession  of  those  who  were  at  the  time  of  the  dissent  a 
majority,  that  they  did  license  a  considerable  number  of  men. 
to  preach  the  gospel,  and  administer  ordinances  in  the  church) 
contrary  to  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  such  cases  made  and  provided; — and  whereas, 
those  men  have  been  required  by  said  Presbytery  to  adopt  the 
said  Confession  of  Faith  and  Discipline  of  said  Church  no 
farther  than  they  believe  it  to  be  agreeable  to  the  word  of 
God,  by  which  no  man  can  know  what  they  believe  in  matters 
o(  doctrine; — and  whereas,  it  is  alleged,  by  said  Presbytery, 
that  those  men  possess  extraordinary  talents,  by  which  they 
have  been  induced  to  license  and  ordain  them,  without  at 
tending  to  the  method  prescribed  by  the  Book  of  Discipline* 
— therefore,  on  motion,  Resolved,  that  the  Commission  of  Syn- 
od now  proceed  to  examine  those  irregularly  licensed,  and 
those  irregularly  ordained  by  Cumberland  Presbytery,  and 
judge  of  their  qualifications  for  the  gospel  ministry/' 

To  this  resolution  the  majority  of  the  Presbytery,  who  had 
been  active  in  bringing  these  young  men  into  the  ministry. 
objected,  and  refused  to  surrender  them  to  an  examination, 
alleging,  that  ''they  had  the  exclusive  privilege  of  examining 
and  licensing  their  own  candidates,  and  t)  at  Synod  had  no 
right  to  take  the  business  out  of  their  hands.*'  The  voting 
men  also,  when  called  upon,  refused,  individually,  to  submit 
to  the  examination  required,  onsequence  of  all  which  con- 
duct, the  following  resolution  was  adopted  by  the.  Commit 


[14] 

sion,  viz:  "Resolved,  that,  as  the  above  named  persons  never 
had  regular  authority  from  the  Presbytery  of  Cumberland 
to  preach  the  gospel,  &c.  the  Commission  of  Synod  prohibit, 
and  they  do  hereby  solemnly  prohibit  the  said  persons  from 
exhorting,  preaching,  and  administering  ordinances  in  conse- 
quence of  any  authority  which  they  have  obtained  from  the 
Cumberland  Presbytery."  No  further  steps  were  taken  by 
the  Commission  relative  to  the  majority  of  the  Presbytery 
who  refused  submission  to  their  authority,  but  to  cite  them  to 
appear  before  the  next  Synod,  to  answer  for  their  conduct, 
and  likewise  to  answer  to  a  charge  of  common  fame,  for 
"propagating  doctrines  contrary  to  those  contained  in  the 
Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

It  was  by  "the  record  of  these  proceedings"  passing  the  re- 
view of  the  General  Assembly,  that  they  came  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  them;  or,  to  use  their  own  language,  that  ':the  mark- 
ed attention  of  the  Assembly  was  attracted."  They  pronoun- 
ced them  "at  least  of  questionable  regularity,"  and  advised 
the  Synod,  in  a  friendly  letter  written  at  their  annual  sessions 
in  1807,  "seriously  to  review  those  proceedings."  With  this 
advice  the  Synod,  without  hesitation,  complied,  at  their  an- 
nual meeting  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  and  the  result  was, 
a  firm  adherence  to  their  former  proceedings.  This  was  com- 
municated, as  the  Synod  expected,  to  the  next  Assembly,  by 
an  address  containing  their  explanations,  and  defence  of  their 
former  conduct;  which,  however,  through  some  mismanage- 
ment, or  neglect,  did  not  reach  the  Assembly  that  year.  As 
the  Assembly  mention  this  letter,  at  a  subsequent  meeting,  as 
a  document  explaining  and  defending  the  proceedings  of  Syn- 
od "in  a  respectful  and  able  mnnner,"  it  is  deemed  advisable 
here  to  insert  that  part  of  it  which  relates  to  the  subject  in 
hand: — it  is  as  follows: 

"The  Synod  assure  the  General  Assembly  that  they  have 
carefully  reviewed  their  proceedings  which  were  by  you 
deemed  of  questionable  regularity,  and   beg  leave  to  lay  be- 


L  is  3 

lore  you  the  result  of  their   proceedings,  with  a  summary  of 
the  reasons  on  which  they  founded  their  decisions. 

"The  attention  of  the  Synod  was  first  directed  to  the  fol- 
lowing question,  arising  from  the  Assembly's  letter: — Were 
the  proceedings  of  the  Synod,  in  requiring  the  young  men  ir- 
regularly licensed  and  ordained,  to  be  given  up,  regular? 
The  Synod  determined,  by  a  large  majority,  that  they  were 
regular.  In  support  of  this  decision,  the  Synod  offer  the  fol- 
lowing reasons: — We  find  that  a  very  extensive  power  is  con- 
ceded to  Synod,  by  our  Book  of  Discipline,  in  these  words: — 
'The  Synod  have  power  to  redress  whatever  hath  been  done 
by  Presbyteries  contrary  to  order.'  The  Synod  do  not  sup- 
pose they  have  the  power  of  licensing  and  ordaining  candi- 
dates. This  they  think  is  the  duty  and  prerogative  of  Pres- 
byteries. But  the  Synod  do  conceive  that,  when  a  Presbyte- 
ry has  introduced 'insufficient  men  into  the  ministry,  and  there 
is  evidence  to  believe  that  the  majority  of  the  Presbytery  are 
so  disposed  as  to  leave  no  rational  probability  that  the  evil 
will  be  redressed  by  them,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  Synod  to 
inquire  into  the  qualifications  of  the  persons  in  question, 
and  confirm  or  disannul  their  licensure.  And  inasmuch  as 
the  Book  of  Discipline  has  prescribed  no  form  in  which  Syn- 
od should  proceed  in  redressing  disorders  of  this  kind,  we 
thought  ourselves  at  liberty  to  exercise  a  sound  discretion, 
and  choose  that  mode  which  appeared  best  to  us,  provided 
we  did  nothing  contrary  to  our  directory,  or  the  decisions  of 
the  General  Assembly.  The  Synod  further  observe,  that  they 
were  called  upon,  by  a  letter  containing  complaints,  and  a  pe- 
tition, in  October,  1804,  to  issue  a  matter  in  dispute  between 
the  majority  and  minority  of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery. 
The  minority,  namely,  five  members,  complained,  that  incom- 
petent men,  and  men  unsound  in  the  faith,  were  introduced 
into  the  gospel  ministry.  The  majority,  being  six  members, 
asserted,  that  those  men  possessed  extraordinary  talents,  and 
were  competent  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  The  only  alter- 
native, therefore;  was.  either  to  disregard  the  dissent  and  com- 


[»16  ] 

plaint  of  the  minority,  or  examine  (he  men  whose  qualifica- 
tions were  in  question;  for  the  Synod  conceited  that  the  man- 
ifestation of  their  qualifications  was  the  only  evidence  on 
which  the  controversy  could  be  decided.  Further,  Synod 
thought,  that  among  so  many  young  men,  there  might  he 
found  at  least  a  few  who  would  shortly  he  qualified  for  the 
office  of  the  gospel  ministry,  could  they  be  induced  to  use  the 
proper  means.  The  Synod  are  of  opinion,  thai  *!,< 
suspend  the  young  men  irregularly  licensed  and  ord;  ed,a€ 
intimated  in.  the  Assembly's  letter.  They  think  no  pi 
cari  be  suspended  from  the  exercise  of  the  ministry,  wh 
never  been  regularly  introduced  into  that  sacred  office.  Toe 
Synod  think,  that  the  persons  in  question  never  had  any  regu- 
lar standing  as  ministers: — therefore,  did  simel)  prohibit  them 
from  exhorting,  preaching,  or  administering  ordinances,  in 
go-  sequence  of  any  authority  derived  from  the  Cumberland 
Presbytery,  as  appears  from  the  record,  (p.  93.) 

"Another  point  which  the  Assembly's  letter  brought  urder 
the  review  of  the  Synod,  was,  the  conduct  of  the  Commission 
in  forbidding  the  young  men  irregularly  licensed  and  ordain- 
ed to  preach,  ccc.  and  without  process  had  in  their  case.  In  justi- 
fication of  their  conduct  in  this  particular,  Synod   take  the  li- 
berty to  remind  you  that  the  irregularity  of  the  licensure  of 
these  men  had  been  a  subject  of  dispute  between  the  majority 
and  the   minority  of  Cumberland   Presbytery   for  more  than 
two  years.     The  Presbytery   haxl  been  cited  to  appear  before 
Synod  to  render  an   account  of  their  licensures.     The)  did 
not  appear.     The  Commission   was  then  appointed, — the  re- 
cords of  Presbytery  were  produced, — the  open  confession  of 
the  majority  was  made  that  the  sacred  office  had  been  confer- 
ed  without  regard  to  the  requirements  of  our  discipline,  and 
the  young  men  refused  to  give  any  evidence  of  their  qualifi- 
cations for    the    ministry.     Synod,   therefore,  supposed  it  a 
sacred  duty,  which  they  owed  to  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  declare,  solemnly,  that  those  young  men  were  introduced  to 
the  important  work  of  preaching  the  gospel  contrary-   to  out 


f  17  ] 

constitution,  and  in  a  manner  which  imperiously  demand^, 
their  prohibition  from  every  part  of  the  ministry  with  us. 
Therefore,  all  the  processes  were  had  which  the  nature  of 
the  case  admitted." 

This  matter  was  again  taken  up  by  the  Assembly  in  1809, 
accompanied  by  the  foregoing  address,  with  the  further  ex- 
planations and  support  cf  three  Commissioners  from  the  Syn- 
od. The  issue  was  highly  honourable  to  the  Synod,  as  will 
appear  from  the  following  decision  of  the  Assembly  on  that 
occasion: 

"The  Assembly  took  into  consideration  a  letter  from  the  Syn- 
od of  Kentucky;  and  having  carefully  reviewed  the  same, 
and  having  also  read  another  letter  from  their  records,  which 
by  accident  was  detained  from  the  last  Assembly,  were  of  opin- 
ion, that  the  Synod  have,  in  these  letters,  exercised  their  un- 
questionable right  of  explaining  their  proceedings,  which 
they  have  done  in  a  respectful  and  able  manner,  and  to  the  full 
satisfaction  of  this  Assembly:  and  the  Assembly  think  it  due 
to  the  Synod,  to  say,  that  they  deserve  the  thanks  of  the 
Church  for  the  firmness  and  zeal,  with  which  they  have  act- 
ed, in  the  trying  circumstances  in  which  they  have  been  pla- 
ced." (Assembly's  Digest,  p.  140.)  This  decision  was  highly 
favourable  to  the  interests  of  our  Church.  It  strengthened 
the  hands  of  the  Synod,  whose  censure  and  condemnation 
had  been  eagerly  desired,  and  zealously  sought  after,  by  the 
friends  and  abettors  of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  without 
any  proper  acknowledgment,  on  their  part,  of  their  irregular- 
ities and  ecclesiastical  aberrations,  or  even  appearing  before 
the  Assembly  in  an  attitude  to  enable  that  Judicature  to 
form  a  legal  decision.  This  will  appear  from  the  following 
extract  of  a  letter,  addressed  by  the  Assembly,  to  Mr. 
M'Adow  and  others,  in  1807: — "Brethren,  the  Assembly  have 
received  your  address,  in  which  you  inform  them,  that  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky  have  suspended  you  from  the  ministerial 
office,  and  in  which  you  request  this  Assembly  to  interpose 
in  your  case  without  delay.     The  Assembly  are  grieved  at 


L  1«] 

finding  that  any  unhappy  differences  exist  in  that  part  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  which  you  reside*  The  conduct  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Cumberland,  in  licensing  and  ordaining  a  num- 
ber of  persons  not  possessing  the  qualifications  required  by 
our  Book  of  Discipline,  and  without  explicit  adoption  oj  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  appears  to  have  been  the  origin  o\  the 
evils  of  which  you  now  complain.  The  Assembl)  are  con- 
strained to  express  their  decided  disapprobation  of  this  con- 
duct, as  being  highly  irregular  and  unconstitutional ;  leading  to 
the  most  dangerous  consequences.  But  inasmuch  as  you 
have  not  regularly  appealed  to  this  Assembly,  they  do  not  con- 
sider themselves  as  called  judicially  to  decide  in  your  case. 
The  Assembly  have  advised  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  to  re- 
view their  proceedings  with  regard  to  you,  and  to  their  de- 
cision we  refer  you." 

The  Synod  did  review  their  proceedings,  as  we  have  seen, 
and  the  result  was,  a  firm  adherence  to  their  former  proceed- 
ings, which  ultimately  gained  the  approbation  of  the  Assem- 
bly, as  has  also  been  shown.  The  complaining  paity  never 
appeared  before  the  Assembly  in  the  altitude  of  appellants? 
and  consequently  the)  could  pass  no  judicial  decision  in  their 
case.  It  soon  became  more  and  more  evident,  that  the  regu- 
lar course  was  not  the  one  by  which  they  desired  to  obtain 
redress,  otherwise  they  might  have  adopted  it,  seeing  it 
was  perfectly  open  and  plain.  Time  and  circumstances  have 
long  ago  fully  established  the  correctness  of  the  course 
pursued  by  the  higher  judicatories  in  arresting  the  '-highly 
irregular  and  unconstitutional"  conduct  oi  the  Cumberland 
Presbytery.  Even  their  distant  advocates  at  length  became 
silent,  and  gave  up  all  hopes  of  ever  reclaiming  them  to  the 
sound  and  correct  faith  and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

Such  was  the  disjointed  and  enfeebled  state  of  things  in 
the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  that  the  Synod  found  it  neces- 
sary to  dissolve  it;  which  they  did  according!),  at  their 
meeting  in  October- 1 106,  and  annexed  the  regular  members  of 


[  19] 

which  it  was  composed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania. 
Ai  i  -it  their  next  meeting,  in  1807,  all  the  unfinished  busi- 
ness, arising  out  of  the  late  Cumberland  Presbytery,  embra- 
cing the  case  of  those  under  suspension  by  the  Synod,  and 
those  under  citation,  was  trans fe red  to  the  aforesaid  Presby* 
terv  of  Transylvania;  who,  at  their  semi-annual  meeting,  in 
Ociober  following,  adopted  what  they  conceived  to  be  the 
m  «t  pacific,  friendly,  and  eligible  course  that  possibly  could 
be  deviled  in  matters  of  such  magnitude,  involved  too,  as 
they  were,  in  mazes  of  great  perplexity  and  difficulty.  They 
sfore  ad  Iressed  the  following  letter  to  Messrs.  Hodge, 
Rt  ikin,  M'Gready,  M'Gee,  and  M'Adow; — the  two  first  were 
under  suspension  by  the  Synod,  and  the  rest  under  citation. 
"Dear  Brethren, 

'•We  are  anxious  to  see  you,  and  have  a  friendly 
interview  with  you  respecting  the  difficulties  which  exist  in 
your  case.  The  Synod  of  Kentucky  have  directed  us  to  en- 
deavour to  settle  the  business  which  lay  before  them  respect- 
ins  you.  We  hope  you  will  meet  with  us  at  Glasgow,  in 
Darren  County,  on  Wednesday  the  22d  day  of  March  next, 
and  bring  with  you  as  many  of  those  men  who  were  declared 
by  the  Commission  to  be  destitute  of  authority  to  preach  the 
gospel,  as  you  may  think  proper,  that  they  may  be  sharers  in 
the  friendly  interview.  May  the  Lord  direct  us,  and  heal 
every  disorder.     Farewell." 

At  the  time  and  place  appointed  the  Presbytery  met,  and 
Mr.  Hod^e  appeared  alone  on  that  occasion.  With  him  the 
Presbytery  had  a  friendly  interview,  and  to  use  their  own 
language,  "after  seven  hours  spent  in  conference  with  Mr. 
Hodge,  in  a  friendly  and  familiar  way,  without  coming  to  any 
certain  determination  relative  to  his  case," ;;and  he  wish- 
ing further  time  to  deliberate   on  this  matter,  Presbytery,  in 

conformity  to  a  particular  and   final  request  of  Mr.  Hodge, 

that  they  should  write  him  and  his  brethren  in  connection  a 
letter,  stating  the  terms  on  which  a  reconciliation  could  be 
-effected."  agreed  to  address  the  following: 


[20] 

;Dear  Sir, 

"Agreeably  to  your  request,  Presbytery  have  thought 
proper  to  address   you   by    letter,   and   through  you,  all  those 
likewise  who  are  interested  with   you.     Wc  again  renew  our 
declaration  of  an   earnest   solicitude   and   unfeigned  anxiety, 
that  the  unhappy  breach  which    has   taken   place  between  us 
may  be  healed,  and  the  present  existing  differences  remo\ed. 
And  as  you   have   requested   a   direct   and    formal  statement 
from  us  of  the  terms  on   which   that   desirable  and  important 
object  may  be   effected; — we,   with    the    same  friendly  spirit 
that  was  manifested  in  our  late  conference,  and  we  hope  with 
that  honesty   and   integrity   of  heart   which   ought  to  actuate 
the  servants  of  our  Divine   Lord    and   Master,  do  proceed  to 
state  those  terms  and   requisitions,   which,   to  descend  to  the 
lowest  stage  of  accommodation,  we  think  are  necessary.    And 
in  the  first  place,  as  to  yourself,  we  think  the  ground  of  your 
suspension  by  the  Synod,  just,   and  consequently    the  rea^ns 
for  that  procedure  right  and   proper.     With  this    impression, 
we  conceive  that   your  restoration   can  only  be   effected  by  a 
proper  acknowledgment  of  the   faith,   and   submission  to  the 
-authority  of  our  Church,  as   contained    in  our  Book  of  Disci- 
pline, to  which  you  are  referred.     The  same  will  be  required 
of  those  brethren  who   are  yet  under  citation  for  not  submit- 
ting to  the  authority  of  Synod  as  exercised  by  their  Commis- 
sion.    Any  thing  less  than  this,  would  subject  us  to  the  cen- 
sure of  that  body,  a  part  of  which  we  compose,  and  of  whose 
adjudications,  in  the  case  of  the  late  Cumberland  Presbytery, 
we  approve. 

"In  the  next  place,  with  regard  to  the  young  men  licensed 
and  ordained  by  the  aforesaid  Presbytery,  we  do  humbly  con- 
ceive, that  a  formal  examination  of  them,  respecting  doctrine 
and  discipline,  is  indispensable,  as  the  only  way,  under  pres- 
ent circumstances,  for  us  to  be  satisfied,  as  a  Presbytery,  res- 
pecting their  sentiments,  and  consequently,  whether  we  are 
agreed  in  points  of  doctrine,  without  which  a  union  would  be 
inconsistent,  and  afford  no  security  for  further  peace  and  har- 


[21    ] 

monv  in  the  Church.     From  hence  it  may  be  readily  inferred 

that  an  unequivocal  adoption  of  our  Confession  of  Faith  is  al- 
so indispensable.  This  would  only  be  placing  them  upon  the 
same  ground  upon  which  we  ourselves  stand,  and  any  other 
could  not  be  advisable  or  desirable  to  either  those  young  men. 
or  ourselves.  For  them  to  adopt  the  Confession  only  in  part. 
and  we  in  the  whole,  would  by  no  means,  in  our  opinion,  ef- 
fect a  union  according  to  truth  and  reality. — and  we  conceive 
a  mere  nominal  union  would  not  prove  a  sufficient  security 
against  future  difficulties.  And  whatever  inference  may  be 
drawn  by  others  respecting  what  is  called  fatality,  from  our 
views  as  expressed  in  the  Confession  respecting  the  Divine 
sovereignty  in  the  decree  of  predestination  and  election,  we 
conceive,  that  no  such  conclusion  can  follow  from  the  premi- 
ses as  there  laid  down.  After  our  desire-,  that  the  great  head 
of  the  Church  may  interpose  and  direct  vou  and  us.  to  that 
which  is  right  and  proper,  with  every  sentiment  of  concilia- 
tion and  esteem,  you  have  our  best  wishes  for  your  weltare 
here,  and  happiness  in  a  change  of  existence. "' 

This  measure  produced  the  desired  effect  in  part:  for  on 
the  6th  day  of  December  following  (he  Presbytery  n.et  at 
Greensburg.  for  the  special  purpose  of  restoring  Mr,  Hodge 
and  others,  as  will  appear  from  the  following  minute  on  their 
records: — "Mr.  Hodge  appeared  before  Presbytery,  and  in- 
formed them,  that  he  came  forward  as  an  individual,  and 
made  such  statements,  acknowledgments,  professions  ol  sor- 
row for  past  irregularities,  together  with  a  determination  to 
submit  to  the  authority  and  discipline  of  our  Church.— and 
that  he  fully  and  unequivocally  adopted  and  adhered  to  the 
Confession,"  fee.  thru  he  wras  without  hesitation  restored  to 
his  former  standing  in  the  ministry.  There  were  also  pres- 
ent two  of  the  persons  irregularly  licensed  and  ordained  by 
the  late  Cumberland  Presbyterv.  The  mild,  indulgent,  and 
pacific  conduct  of  Presbytery  towards  these  men,  will  be  am- 
ply manifested  from  the  record  of  their  proceedings,  as  follows: 
-ye.  Thorns   Xel-on  and   Samuel   Hodge,  two  of  the 


L'22  ] 

young  men  formerly  licensed  and  ordained  by  the  late  Cum- 
berland Presbytery,  and  prohibited  by  the  Commission  of  Syn- 
od, came  forward  and  expressed  their  desire  to  submit  them- 
selves to  the  wisdom  and  discretion  of  this  Presbytety:— 
Whereupon,  Presbytery  proceeded  to  consider  their  case, 
and  lengthily  and  particularly  examined  them  so  far  as  was 
thought  expedient;  and  on  account  of  the  difference  of  their 
situation  from  that  of  ordinary  candidates,  Presbytery  thought 
it  unnecessary  to  record  the  parts  of  trial  in  detail,  and  being 
satisfied  with  Messrs  Nelson  and  Hodge,  in  respect  of  their 
doctrinal  qualifications  for  the  gospel  ministry,  their  aptness 
to  teach,  and  after  their  adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Discipline  of  our  Church,  and  promising,  in  a  solemn  man- 
ner, conformity  to  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Church, 
and  submision  to  their  brethren  in  the  Lord, — their  former  li- 
censure and  ordination  were  recognized  and  confirmed  unani- 
mously, and  they  were  authorized  to  exercise  all  the  functions 
of  the  gospel  ministry  agreeably  to  the  rules  of  our  Church. 
They  were  consequently  recognized  as  members  of  this  Pres- 
bytery, and  invited  to  take  their  seats,  which  the)  did  accord- 
ingly!" 

After  this,  it  is  truly  astonishing,  that  any  accusation  or 
complaint  should  ever  lie  against  the  Presbytery  and  the  Syn- 
od, that  all  efforts  for  reconciliation,  <Scc.  were  fruitless  and 
unavailing.  Surely  candour  cannot  bring  such  a  railing  ac- 
cusation, and  credulity  itself  will  not  believe  it.  The  return 
of  Messrs.  Hodge  and  M'Greadv  to  the  order  and  discipline  of 
our  Church;— their  unreserved  submission  to  and  cordial  ac- 
knowlegment  cf  its  authority  and  doctrines,  and  the  final  apos- 
(acy  of  Mr.  Rankin  to  the  abominations  of  Shakerism,  de- 
prived the  complaining  party  of  the  three  principal  leaders 
and  promoters  of  the  irregularities  that  caused  the  interfe- 
rence of  Synod.  None  of  the  old  members  now  remained,  of 
that  parly,  except  Messrs.  William  M'Gec  and  Samuel 
M'Adow,  who  were  both  under  citation  for  their  non-submis- 
sion to  the  authority  of  Synod,  fcr  which  Messrs.  Hodge  and 


\ 


E  23  ] 

Rankin  had  been  suspended   by  the  Synod.     The  suspension 
of  Mr.  M'Adow,  by  the  Transylvania  Presbytery,  took  place 
on  the  5th  of  April,  1810,  and  that  of  Mr.  M'Gee  shortly  af- 
terwards, by  the  Presbytery  of  Muhlenburgh.     Prior  to  these 
events,  the  complainants  had  excited  the  sympathy,  and  en- 
listed  the    support   of  distant  individuals,  as  their    friends. 
Their  cries  were  very  loud  and  reiterated  against  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky,  which  had  been,  in  their  estimation,  very  disor- 
derly   in    violating    the    constitution     and    discipline    of  the 
Church.     They   used  every   ungenerous   effort,  and  adopted 
every  irregular  method,  to  obtain  the  censure  and  condemna- 
tion of  the  Synod,  without  one  single  acknowledgment  of  er- 
ror and  irregularity  on  their  part.     The  Assembly  could  only 
reach  the  Synod  and  bring  them  before   her  through  the  re- 
cord of  their  proceedings;  but   the  complaining  party,  as  we 
have  seen,  never   did,   and   appeared  cautiously  to   avoid  ap- 
pearing before  the  Assembly  by  way  of  appeal,  or  in  any  oth- 
er way  whereby  a  judicial  decision  could  be  obtained.     They 
formed,  and  for  some  time  continued  in  what  they  denomina- 
ted, a  "Council,*'  until  on  the  4th  day  of  February,  1310,  they 
were  constituted  into  Presbyterial  form  by  Samuel  M'Adow, 
Finis  Ewing,  and  Samuel  King,  who,   in  Buck's  Dictionary, 
have  styled  themselves,  "regularly  ordained  ministers  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,"  notwithstanding  the  General  Assem- 
bly, in  their  letter  to  M'Adow  and  others,  in   1807,  almost 
three  years  before,  declared  that  very  act  of  the  Presbytery 
in  licensing  and  ordaining  Ewing,   King,   and   others,  without 
explicit  adoption  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,   as  being  highly  ir- 
regular and  unconstitutional,  (See  Assembly's  Digest,   p.    139.) 
These  two  last  named  persons   we»e,  in  consequence  of  their 
irregular  induction  into  the  ministry,  laid  under  a  prohibition 
by  the  Commission  of  Synod,  which  they  without  foundation 
call  an  "unconstitutional  act,"  alleging,  that  "they  only  pro- 
hibited from  the    exercise  of  an  authority  derived  from  Cum- 
berland Presbytery,  whereas,  they  maintain,  that  "it  was  the 
Transylvania  Presbytery  that  licensed  this  Mr.  EwiDg  and 


f  24  j 

King  to  preach  the  gospel,"  and  that,  "therefore,  Iheir  license 
at  least  remains  untouched  by  any  church  judicature.*'* 
This,  1o  say  Ihe  least  of  it,  is  a  mere  quibble,  and  exhibits  at 
once  the  weakness  and  fallacy  of  the  plea  for  regular  ordina- 
tion. We  have  already  seen  how  these  men  were  licensed  hy 
a  "large  majority"  of  Transylvania  Presbytery,  a  few  days 
only  before  its  division,  and  while  entirely  under  the  con- 
troul  of  that  section  who  were,  in  consequence  of  that  divi- 
sion, called  Cumberland  Presbytery.  Nominally,  therefore,  it 
was  Transylvania  Presbytery  who  licensed  Ewing  and  King; 
but  virtually,  it  was  the  Presbytery  of  Cumberland,  being  the 
very  same  members  who,  after  the  division,  were  called  by 
that  name;  and  officially,  it  was  that  Presbytery  who  after- 
wards ordained  them;  and  both  as  to  licensure  and  ordination 
it  was  the  illegal  act.  (no  matter  by  what  name  the  Presbyte- 
ry was  called,)  that  really  was  condemned  by  the  Syn<  d. 
whose  conduct  was  approved  by  the  General  Assembh.  So 
that  every  candid  mar,  in  any  measure  acquainted  with  our 
ecclesiastical  authority  and  discipline,  must  judge,  with  what 
propriety  these  two  men  could  be  styled  "regularly  ordained 
ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,"  especially  when  that 
Church,  by  her  highest  judicature,  has  di?a\owed  the  recog- 
nition of  those  Presbyterial  acts,  whether  done  b>  Transylva- 
nia or  Cumberland  Prebytery;  and  declared  them  to  be  high- 
ly irregular  and  unconstitutional.  A  mere  omission  or  inadver- 
tence in  the  name  of  the  Presbytery,  surely  cannot  be  plead 
by  honest  men,  as  validating  an  illegal  act.  which  the  higher 
judicatories  all  along  meant  to  condemn.  These  observations 
will  be  further  confirmed  by  bringing  to  view  here  tne  real 
ground  on  which  these  people,  as  a  religious  community,  arc 
viewed  by  the  General  Assembly,  expressed  in  the  Extracts 
from  their  minutes  of  1014,  and  the  Digest,  p.  157.  "The 
Committee  to  which  was  referred  the  consideration  of  the 
manner  in  which  certain  persons  should  be  treated,  who  for- 

Vieply  to  a  Pastoral  Letter  of  West  Tennessee  Presbytery,  p.  ZS 


L  25  ] 

ineriy  belonged  to  the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  and  who,  since 
the  dissolution  of  said  Presbytery,  continue  to  style  them- 
selves the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  reported;  and  their  re- 
port being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz: 

"That  those  persons  were  under  the  censure  of  the  church 
at  the  time  of  their  constituting  as  a  Presbytery,— that  they 
had  neglected  to  take  the  regular  steps  for  the  removal  of 
that  censure, — that  they  erected  themselves  into  a  judi- 
catory contrary  to  the  rules  of  our  discipline, — that  the 
grounds  of  the  separation  from  us  were,  that  we  would  not 
relax  our  discipline,  and  surrender  some  important  doctrines 
of  our  Confession  of  Faith:— Wherefore,  Resolved,  that  the 
aforesaid  persons  be  viewed  as  having  derived  no  authority 
from  us  to  exercise  discipline,  or  administer  the  ordinances 
of  the  Church,  and  that  our  regular  members  cannot  treat 
with  them  as  a  body,  but  only  as  individuals."* 

This  is  the  final  conclusion  of  the  Assembly,  and  the  last 
sentiment  they  ever  expressed  on  this  subject.  It  is  clear  and 
explicit,  and  leaves  the  matter  just  where  it  should  be,  and 
where  it  is  likely  to  rest.  The  legality  and  authority  of  the 
Commission  of  Synod,  as  a  court  of  Christ,  cannot  be  justly 
questioned.  And  if  it  should  be,  its  proceedings  have  been 
sanctioned  and  confirmed,  both  by  the  Synod  and  General 
Assembly;  and  therefore,  the  conclusion  is  fair,  that  the  ori- 
gin of  the  present  Cumberland   Presbyterians,  as  an  ecclesir 

*It  is  the  opinion  of  some  that  there  is  good  and  legitimate 
ordination  among  those  of  the  self-made  Cumberland  Pres- 
bytery, or,  as  now  styled,  Synod.  Without  saying  any  thing 
more  on  this  point  than  we  have  said,  we  would  state  that  ac- 
cording to  their  own  documents  and  acknowledgements,  they 
cannot  be  recognized  as  any  branch  or  section  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Cnurch,  because  they  have  set  aside  some  of  the  import- 
ant doctrines  and  regulations  which  belong  to  legitimate  or- 
dination in  said  Church.  If  they  have  legitimately  ordained 
ministers  among  them,  they  have  them  not  according  to  Pres- 
byterian rules,  and  therefore  we  are  certainly  correct  in  dis- 
owning  them. 

4- 


[  26  J 

astical  body  of  the  Presbyterian  order,  is  spurious  and  ille- 
gitimate, inasmuch  as  Iwo  of  the  ministers  who  organized 
and  constituted  their  first  Presbytery,  were  not  only  illegally 
and  unconstitutionally  ordained  at  l\v$t,  but  likewise  that  ordi" 
nation  itself  pronounced  null  and  void  by  our  highest  judicature 
BeveraJ  yars  anterior  to  the  event.  Their  line  of  ordina- 
iion  cannot,  therefore,  upon  sound  and  correct  ecclesiastical 
principles  be  traced  to  a  legitimate  source. 

It  is   moreover  due   to    the  cause   of  truth  and  candour,  as 
well  a.-  to  o'jr  church  a!    large,   and    the   public  generally,  to 
correct   a  statement,   or  solemnly    d  savow   the    truth    of    a 
statement,  widely  circulated  in  the  account  given  of  the  Cum- 
berland   Presbyterians   in    "Buck's  Theological  Dictionary,'* 
(fifth  edition,  by  W.  W.  Woodward,  p.  419.)     It  is   there  sta- 
ted, that  the  ''Commission   exhibited  many   charges,  &c.  all 
of  which  were  chiefly    comprized  in  the  two  following,  viz: — 
1st.  Licensing  men  to  preach   the   gospel    who  had  not  been 
examined  on  the  languages.     2d.  That  those  men  who  were 
licensed,  botli  learned  and   less  learned,  had  been  only  requi- 
red to  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  partially,  that  is,  as  far 
as  they   believed  it  to   agree    with   the  word  of  God."     This 
latter  charge  is  true,  but  the  former  is  not.      And  for  the  truth 
of  this  disavowal,  we   appeal  to  the   testimony  of  those  mem' 
bers  of  the  Commission   of  Synod    who   are  yet  living.     We 
appeal  to   ihc   records   of  that    Commission,   where   no  such 
charge  can  be  found  specified    or  tabled  against  the  Presbyte- 
ry on  that  occasion.     We   appeal  to   the  fact  of  the  Transyl- 
vania Presbytery's  having  subsequently,  under  the  connivance 
and    approbation    of    the    Synod,    received    two    of    those 
young  men  alluded  to  in  the  statement  in  question.     And  we 
appeal  to  the  expressions  of  the  Synod,  in  their  explanation 
and  defence  to  the   General  Assembly   already  given,  which 
savs:  "Further,    Synod  thought  that  among  so  many  young 
men  there  might  be  found  at  least  a  few.  who  would  shortly 
be  qualified  for  the  office  of  the  gospel  ministry,  could  they  be 
induced  to  use   the   proper  means.'*     It  is  therefore  denied 


f  27] 

that  the  charge  under  consideration  is  true.  Admitting,  how- 
ever, the  truth  of  (he  statement,  the  Synod  entertain  no  fears 
that  any  disorder,  disgrace,  or  odium,  has  ever  been  attached 
to  their  cause  on  that  account.  Nor  are  they  willing  to  be- 
lieve that  any  correct,  judicious,  and  orderly  Presbyterian, 
either  of  the  clergy  or  laity,  ever  thought  the  less  of  the  Com- 
mission, or  even  for  a  moment  called  in  question  their  conduct 
in  point  of  orthodoxy  or  discipline,  by  reading  in  Buck's  Dic- 
tionary the  charges  before  mentioned.  And  while  the  pro- 
gress of  Theological  Seminaries  and  Education  Societies 
maintain  their  course,  and  the  increasing  thirst  and  demand 
for  an  able  and  orthodox  ministry  continues  in  our  Church, 
she  has  thereby  afforded  unto  her  an  ample  pledge,  that  the 
aforesaid  charges  will  never  diminish  her  credit  nor  tarnish 
her  glory.  And  this  is  one  principal  reason  why  she  has  been 
so  long  tardy  or  indifferent  respecting  her  disavowal  of  the 
correctness  of  the  statement  in  question. 

The  article  in  Buck's  Dictionary  further  says:  "As  to  the 
first  ground  of  complaint,  the  Presbytery  not  only  pled  the 
exception  in  the  Discipline  in  'extraordinary  cases,'  but  also 
the  example  of  a  number  of  Presbyteries  in  different  parts  of 
the  United  States."  This  declaration  is  based  upon  a  false 
construction  of  discipline,  and  consequently  the  reference  to 
Presbyterial  precedents  is  irrelevant.  The  "extraordinary- 
cases,"  called  "the  exception  in  the  Discipline,"  refer  not  to 
the  literary  qualifications  of  the  caudidate,  but  to  the  term  of 
time  allotted  for  his  theological  studies.  The  words  are:  "That 
the  most  effectual  measures  be  taken  to  guard  against  the  ad- 
mission of  insufficient  men  into  the  sacred  office,  it  is  recom- 
mended, that  no  candidate,  (except  in  extraordinary  cases,) 
be  licensed,  unless  after  his  having  completed  the  usual  course 
of  academical  studies,  he  shall  have  studied  divinity  at  least 
two  years,  (Form  of  Gov.  Chap.  xiii.  Sec.  4.)  The  plain  con- 
struction is  this;  that  after  academical  studies,  no  man  should 
be  licensed,  without  having  studied  divinity  at  least  two  years, 
except  in  extraordinary  cases.     This  is  also  the  idea  conveyed 


[,28  j 

in  the  margin  of  former  editions  of  the   Discipline  opposite 
the  article  under  consideration.     Some  men  of*  literary  quali- 
fications,  of  sound  faith,   of  puhlic   habits,   and  of  advanced 
age,  might  in  such   extraordinary  cases,  be  licensed  probably 
in  six  months  after  becoming  candidates.     But  the  conduct  of 
the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  as  it  respected  extraordinary  ca- 
ses, was   certainly   unprecedented.     They   had   nearly   thirty 
such   cases,  according  to  their  construction  of  that  article  of 
the  Discipline,  and  the   most   extraordinary    case  of  all,  and 
which  exhibited  a  perfect  anomaly  in   Presbyterianism,  was 
that  of  James  Hawe,  "the  regular  member  of  the  Methodist 
Republican   Church."     And  if  we    predicate   their  practice 
upon  the  same  rule  of  construction,  their  cases  have  ail  been 
extraordinary  to  this  day,  i.  e.  their  licentiates,  without  lite- 
rary qualificat  ions,  are,  generally,  if  not  all,  men  of  extraordi- 
nary talents.     Such  a  rule  is  so  vague  and  uncertain,  that  it 
may  be  applied  equally  to  one  society,  as  another,  even  where 
no  pretensions   to  literary   qualifications  are  set  up..    These 
observations  are   not   designed  either  to  impugn  or   call  in 
question  the  motives  and   conduct  of  those  Presbyteries  who 
have  occasionally   introduced  men,  destitute,  in  part  at  least, 
of  literary  qualifications,  into  the  ministry.     Such  cases,  how- 
ever, rarely  happen;  acd  no  Presbytery  in  the  United  States 
has  ever  afforded  such  a  precedent  as  is  pleaded  for  by   the 
author  of  the  article  in  Buck's  Dictionary.     It  is  therefore  to 
be  regretted,  in  so  for  as  candour  and  truth  are  concerned, 
that  such  an   article,  bearing  upon  its   front   the  indubitable 
marks  of  insincerity  and  untruth,   should  ever  have  been  ad- 
mitted by  an  American  Publisher  into  an  original  work,  with- 
out the  privity  or  sanction  of  the  author;  and  thereby  afford 
an  almost  unlimitted  currency  to  a  statement  so  exceptionable, 
and  at  least,  as  it  respects  sefhe  parts  of  it,  so  unfounded  in 
truth.     Such  a  conduct   was   ungenerous  towards  the  author 
of  that  highly  and  deservedly  popular  work;  and  also  clearly 
unauthorized  by  modesty,  as  well  as  the  dictates  of  prudence 
and  sound  policy.     Equally  s?  is  the  conduct  of  the  Cumber 


t  29-} 

land    Synod,  as  they  are  termed,  in  which,  to  use  their  own 
words,  they  "have  ventured  to  model,  to  expunge,  and  to  add 
to,  the    Confession  of  the  General  Presbyterian  Church."     In 
doing  which,   they  have  not  only   mutilated  our  Confession, 
and  altered  our  Shorter  Catechism,  which  thereby  has  shared 
the  same  late,  and  consequently   greatly  marred  its  beautiful 
symmetry,  its  just  proportion,  and  harmony  of  its  parts;  but  al- 
so, by  such  conduct,  have  manifested  a  lack  of  independence, 
of  modesty,  and  of  generosity,  and  have  moreover  displayed, 
a  hardihood  and   temerity,   in   garbling  and   mangling  those 
works,  that  no  people  ever  thought  of,  or   attempted  before. 
With  such  a  book,  modelled,  expunged,  and  added  according  to 
their  own  taste  and  fancy,  and  adopted  as  a  symbol  of  their 
faith,  with  the  imposing  and  beguiling  name  of  Presbyterian,  it 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  number  of  our  connection,  em- 
igrating   to   those    parts    within   the    range   of   these    people, 
should  readily  be  imposed  upon,  and  beguiled  into  their  com- 
munion as  a  matter  either  of  convenience  or  indifference,  be- 
cause of  the  supposed  affinity  and  similarity    held   up  to  view 
between  the  orthodoxy  and  discipline  of  the  two  connections. 
It  is  deemed  our   duty,   therefore,  to  make  known  to  all  who 
have  a  predilection  for,  and  wish  to   retain  their  standing   in 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  that  it  is  their  duty  to  adhere  to  our 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  in  their  original  and  un- 
broken   form,  as  all  along  delivered  to  them;    and  likewise  to 
our  late  improved,  and  highly  approved  Form  of  Government 
and  Discipline,  "as  amended  and  ratified  by  the  General  As- 
sembly in  May,  18^1.*'     In    doing  this   the}    will   avoid   the 
charge  of  inconsistency;  they   will  not  jeopardize    their  own 
standing  in  their  Church,  but  will  continue  to  promote  it-  iu° 
terests;  will   add  strength  to  themselves  towards   obtaini    g  a 
stated  ministry  according  to  their  desire,  and  wi'l  a?oid  the 
imputation  of  being  connected   with  a  people  whose  origin 
I  standing  is  at  le.ast  of  questionable  regularity. 


